Three held in fatal beating in Little Village

July 13, 2009

Three people are in custody who may have been involved in the fatal beating of a 23-year-old man who refused to leave a party over the weekend in the Little Village neighborhood, Chicago police said today.

Jose Zargas-Casarrubias of the 3700 block of West Marquette Road was pronounced dead at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

An autopsy conducted today found that he died of cerebral injuries and blunt force trauma related to an assault and ruled his death a homicide.

Zargas-Casarrubias was found in a second floor hallway adjacent to a stairwell in an apartment on the 2400 block of South Sawyer Avenue, said Chicago Police Officer Gabrielle Lesniak.

Zargas-Casarrubias went to a home on the 2300 block of South Sawyer to attend a party to which he was not invited, Lesniak said. The man was asked to leave but returned a short time later and was beaten by several people as he was leaving, Lesniak said.

The man made it to an apartment about a block away and collapsed, Lesniak said.